Photo by Katelyn Peterson
The restaurant's name is a musical term in Italian that means "from the beginning."

Photo by Katelyn Peterson
The restaurant's name is a musical term in Italian that means "from the beginning."

Photo: Journal Register Co.

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Contributed
There are new dishes on the menu at Da Capo, but some favorite remain the same.

Contributed
There are new dishes on the menu at Da Capo, but some favorite remain the same.

Photo: Journal Register Co.

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A new beginning at Litchfield restaurant

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With innovation, style and a new kind of flavor, DaCapo restaurant in Litchfield has gone from good to great. The success of the restaurant is due to the teamwork of Yanni Gogo, the manager and Roberto Pizzo, the new head chef.

Pizzo, who was born into the restaurant business, was hired about four months ago to bring his restaurant expertise to the table. Growing up in Sicily and working with his father from age 16 to 24 helped him become the well-known chef he is today, he said.

After working with and learning about the kitchen from his father, Pizzo decided it was time to start his independence. He moved to the U.S. and has been working and living here for 18 years. Pizzo currently lives in Kent, where he has lived with his wife for 10 years.

Prior to being hired at Da Capo, Pizzo worked at the Rooster Tail Inn & Restaurant for about a year. But the bulk of his career was spent at the restaurant he owned with his wife, Docs Trattoria & Pizzeria Restaurant in New Preston, and later in Kent after they moved to a new location. Pizzo and his wife owned Docs from 1999 to 2012, when they decided to close shop.

“I tried to go into sales, still within the restaurant business, and it just wasn’t me,” says Pizzo. “I was fortunate enough to find Yanni and to be able to come to a restaurant that’s not mine but still feels like my own place.”

Pizzo adds that one thing he loves about his new job is the friendliness and comfort people seem to experience when they come to Da Capo. He explains that it’s rare to find a restaurant where the manager and chef will come around and chat with their customers, and that’s exactly what they get when they dine at this restaurant.

Says Pizzo: “When you come in, people are either asking for Yanni or they’re looking for a certain waitress. People come and they feel like they’re at home.”

Since he has been at DeCapo, the restaurant has seen a few alterations and has added new features. For example, Pizzo said, the pizza has been slightly changed to fit the style he is known for. The pizza is now cooked in a brick oven as opposed to pizza screens, and Pizzo uses Semolina flour to mold the pizza dough on the marble counter. Pizzo adds that while the mozzarella is still handcrafted, it is now shredded instead of sliced.

Though the pizza style has changed, the rest of the menu remains the same. Some of the favorites are chicken parmigiana, eggplant rollatini , linguini gamberi, haddock served with gnocchi, and veggies and orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe.

Some of the other items on the menu include lobster rolls, lobster risotto, chicken marsala and eggplant parmigiana.

Pizzo says it’s hard for him to choose a favorite meal at Da Capo, but one dish he really enjoys is the shrimp dish with prosciutto, plum tomatoes, spinach, olive oil and fresh mozzarella. The margherita pizza is another one of Pizzo’s preferences.

In addition to the pizza, another menu alteration is the wine list, which is seasonal and has been redone to include a cocktail list. The drinks that have been added are The Brooklin, The DA Capo, The Bellini and The Black Tie.

The restaurant has also introduced a Sunday brunch option for customers to enjoy.

“The idea was to have a special Italian brunch with famous meals and dishes from parts of Italy like spaghetti carbonara, pizza La Capriciossa, and frittatas,” says Gogo.

Da Capo has been in business for over six years and since it was first opened, it has received rave reviews from both critics and customers. In 2012, the Reader’s Choice section of Connecticut Magazine listed it as one of the best Italian restaurants to dine at in Litchfield County.

Several customers also took the opportunity to write about their dining experience on opentable.com. One customer in particular said he had taken his girlfriend there for Valentine’s Day and asked her to marry him that night after a wonderful meal. Though he remained anonymous, he took the time to personally thank Da Capo for her answer.

The restaurant’s name is a musical term in Italian that means “from the beginning.” With their friendship and working relationship, Gogo and Pizzo have taken the restaurant and have made their own beginning.

“This is what we do,” says Gogo. “This is what we love. We can’t do anything else.”

Da Capo is located at 625 Torrington Road in Litchfield and is open Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Customers can make a reservation by calling 860-482-6246.